Magnitude and pattern of Arctic warming governed by the seasonality of radiative forcing

Krikken, Folmer

doi:10.1038/srep38287

Cited by 34 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…About 50 % of the wind-transported snow sublimates in the high plains of southeastern Wyoming (Tabler et al, 1990). Adequate model representation of sublimation processes are important to obtain reliable prediction of spring runoff and determine the spatial distribution/variability of energy and water fluxes and their subsequent influence on atmospheric circulation in high-latitude regions (Bowling et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over certain parts of the Antarctica, where persistent katabatic winds prevail, blowing snow sublimation is found to remove up to 85 % of the solid precipitation (Frezzotti et al, 2002). Over coastal areas up to 35 % of the precipitation may be removed by wind through transport and sublimation (Bromwich, 1988). Das et al (2013) concluded that ∼ 2.7-6.6 % of the surface area of Antarctica has persistent negative net accumulation due to wind scour (erosion and sublimation of snow).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Blowing snow processes commonly occur over the earth's ice sheets when the 10 m wind speed exceeds a threshold value. These processes play a key role in the sublimation and redistribution of snow thereby influencing the surface mass balance. Prior field studies and modeling results have shown the importance of blowing snow sublimation and transport on the surface mass budget and hydrological cycle of high-latitude regions. For the first time, we present continent-wide estimates of blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica for the period 2006-2016 based on direct observation of blowing snow events. We use an improved version of the blowing snow detection algorithm developed for previous work that uses atmospheric backscatter measurements obtained from the CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) lidar aboard the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite. The blowing snow events identified by CALIPSO and meteorological fields from MERRA-2 are used to compute the blowing snow sublimation and transport rates. Our results show that maximum sublimation occurs along and slightly inland of the coastline. This is contrary to the observed maximum blowing snow frequency which occurs over the interior. The associated temperature and moisture reanalysis fields likely contribute to the spatial distribution of the maximum sublimation values. However, the spatial pattern of the sublimation rate over Antarctica is consistent with modeling studies and precipitation estimates. Overall, our results show that the 2006-2016 Antarctica average integrated blowing snow sublimation is about 393 ± 196 Gt yr −1 , which is considerably larger than previous model-derived estimates. We find maximum blowing snow transport amount of 5 Mt km −1 yr −1 over parts of East Antarctica and estimate that the average snow transport from continent to ocean is about 3.7 Gt yr −1 . These continent-wide estimates are the first of their kind and can be used to help model and constrain the surface mass budget over Antarctica.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

et al. 2017

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“…Whereas such cloud characteristics are challenging to measure from the ground, especially in the polar regions, satellite remote sensing has opened up venues to study these cloud characteristics on large scales [Bromwich et al, 2012;Grenier et al, 2009;Cesana et al, 2012;Kay and Gettelman, 2009;Devasthale and Thomas, 2011;McIlhattan et al, 2017]. Using these data, several studies have highlighted large cloud biases in climate models over Greenland [Van Tricht et al, 2016a;McIlhattan et al, 2017], the Arctic Ocean [English et al, 2015;Boeke and Taylor, 2016], the Antarctic Plateau [Lawson and Gettelman, 2014], and the Southern Ocean [Kay et al, 2016b], questioning their performance in representing polar climate and climate change [Bintanja and Krikken, 2016;Notz and Stroeve, 2016]. Detailed evaluation of clouds in climate models has been enabled in recent years by satellite simulators, such as the Observation Simulator Package [Bodas-Salcedo et al, 2011], a lidar simulator [Chepfer et al, 2008] with snow crystal error correction [English et al, 2014], and a CALIPSO cloud phase simulator [Cesana and Chepfer, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polar clouds and radiation in satellite observations, reanalyses, and climate models

Lenaerts

Tricht

Lhermitte

et al. 2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Clouds play a pivotal role in the surface energy budget of the polar regions. Here we use two largely independent data sets of cloud and surface downwelling radiation observations derived by satellite remote sensing (2007–2010) to evaluate simulated clouds and radiation over both polar ice sheets and oceans in state‐of‐the‐art atmospheric reanalyses (ERA‐Interim and Modern Era Retrospective‐Analysis for Research and Applications‐2) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate model ensemble. First, we show that, compared to Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System‐Energy Balanced and Filled, CloudSat‐CALIPSO better represents cloud liquid and ice water path over high latitudes, owing to its recent explicit determination of cloud phase that will be part of its new R05 release. The reanalyses and climate models disagree widely on the amount of cloud liquid and ice in the polar regions. Compared to the observations, we find significant but inconsistent biases in the model simulations of cloud liquid and ice water, as well as in the downwelling radiation components. The CMIP5 models display a wide range of cloud characteristics of the polar regions, especially with regard to cloud liquid water, limiting the representativeness of the multimodel mean. A few CMIP5 models (CNRM, GISS, GFDL, and IPSL_CM5b) clearly outperform the others, which enhances credibility in their projected future cloud and radiation changes over high latitudes. Given the rapid changes in polar regions and global feedbacks involved, future climate model developments should target improved representation of polar clouds. To that end, remote sensing observations are crucial, in spite of large remaining observational uncertainties, which is evidenced by the substantial differences between the two data sets.

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“…Arctic amplification is governed by positive feedback mechanisms such as albedo, lapse rate, water vapor, and cloud forcing and feedbacks (AMAP, 2017;Pithan & Mauritsen, 2014;Screen & Simmonds, 2010;Serreze & Barry, 2011;Taylor et al, 2013). Because of the complex interactions between these mechanisms and their spatial and seasonal variability, the representation of the Arctic climate system in regional and global climate models requires improvement (Bintanja & Krikken, 2016;Flato et al, 2013;Kattsov & Källén, 2005). The main aim of this paper is to provide measurements and improve understanding of the interaction between two phenomena influencing these feedback mechanisms: temperature inversions and fog.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiosonde‐Derived Temperature Inversions and Their Association With Fog Over 37 Melt Seasons in East Greenland

et al. 2018

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We present temperature inversion characteristics during fog and nonfog conditions at three east Greenland coastal weather stations during Arctic melt seasons 1980–2016. For this purpose, we developed a novel automated method to extract fog‐top height (FTH) from Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive data, which is applicable to any fog thermodynamic profile and includes an improved interpolation of saturation between sounding levels. From the analysis of >22,000 melt‐season soundings we conclude that inversions occur 85–95% of the time, are predominantly elevated, and have median depths >200 m. Fog at high‐Arctic locations often penetrates the inversion layer, especially in the late melt season, and is commonly several hundred meters thick. At low‐Arctic locations fog is thinner and generally restricted to the mixed layer. Inversions during fog are deeper and stronger compared to nonfog conditions. This effect is more pronounced at higher latitudes, which we attribute to distinct local boundary layer conditions and large‐scale processes. The Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive‐extracted FTHs have a cumulative error of 56 m and are in reasonable agreement with retrievals from Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite cloud top data. The novel FTH extraction method can be applied to any polar sounding with >5 significant levels below 700 hPa and can be extended to boundary layer clouds other than fog, which represent the majority of cloud occurrence in the Arctic melt season. This study advances the understanding of interactions between low clouds and temperature inversions and improves retrieval of cloud geometrical thickness from radiosondes: both have important implications for the Arctic surface energy budget.

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Magnitude and pattern of Arctic warming governed by the seasonality of radiative forcing

Cited by 34 publications

References 27 publications

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

Blowing snow sublimation and transport over Antarctica from 11 years of CALIPSO observations

Polar clouds and radiation in satellite observations, reanalyses, and climate models

Radiosonde‐Derived Temperature Inversions and Their Association With Fog Over 37 Melt Seasons in East Greenland

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